NBC Launches 'Dracula' Animated Prequel Series

October 07, 2013 03:51:04 GMT

The web series flashes back to the 15th century to discover the origins of the iconic Vlad Tepes a.k.a. Dracula.

To hype up the upcoming premiere of its freshman "Dracula", NBC has released an animated original series which serves as a prequel to the new show. Titled "Dracula Rising", the prequel series has debuted on the network's official site and YouTube page, bringing viewers back to the 15th century to discover the origins of the iconic Vlad Tepes a.k.a. Dracula.

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who previously starred on Showtime's "The Tudors", played the title character on the forthcoming drama series. Set in the late 19th century, it follows Dracula who hopes to take revenge on those who crossed him centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

It's scheduled to debut Friday, October 25 at 10/9c on NBC. Back in July, executive producer Tony Krantz revealed that the bloodsucker would be partnered with Van Helsing on the horror series as "one of a number of alterations with regard to the classic Dracula."

"They've partnered up to fight a bigger bad, which is called The Order of the Dragon, a secret organization. This is an order of right-wing zealots who cursed Dracula and turned him into a vampire years ago," he explained the twist.

"We flash forward to today to Victorian England where Dracula has assumed the alter ego of an American inventor by the name of Alexander Grayson. He has come to England to essentially avenge the fact that he was turned into a monster years ago."